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OFFICIAL IMMUNITY CURTAILED IN HONDURAS, ALMOST.

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In an "unprecedented" act, the Congreso Nacional (CN) of Honduras has removed the constitutional immunity that for 46 years has shielded as many as 20,000 public officials from legal responsibility for their acts. "The decision was adopted for the good of the country," said legislative president Porfirio Lobo. "Immunity was abused in the country, and, therefore, the time came to eliminate it."

It must be emphasized that this immunity was not limited to acts committed in connection with the state or government. Under the constitutional provisions, hundreds of officials and politicians have walked free from acts not only of corruption, but also of rape, murder, manslaughter, domestic violence, family abandonment, and others. They were people for whom civil and penal codes were just books on a shelf. "We decided that we are all equal under the law," said Lobo.

The initiative became law by the vote of 90 of the 128 deputies of all five parties on a bill presented in 2003 by Partido Liberal (PL) Deputy Ramon Villeda Bermudez. It strikes Articles 200 and 205 from the 1982 Constitution, and it became permanent only after a vote in October 2003 and ratification by the 2004 legislature. Both votes were required to pass by an 86-vote supermajority (two-thirds) or better. It lacks only publication in the official gazette to become effective. That is expected...

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